Hello, I am new to typophile and figured i would get my feet wet with a critique. This is a logo I am working on for a mortgage company. They are looking for an upgrade from their current identity and would like the new look to reflect power, and look new and clean. The color pallet was chosen by the customer as well as the general look and imagery. He has a specific look in mind similar to that of "Nation's Plus". I would appreciate and constructive criticism. Thanks.

Lets start here: blue retreats and red comes forward. Your words are competing on alternating planes, and it's chaotic. That said, it's quite valuable to work strictly in black and white and finalize the design before adding color.

Right now, none of them stand out. They're all too crowded and unbalanced. Keep simplifying. An old professor once said "you'll know you're done when there's nothing left to take away, and your message is still in tact."

I think Alaskan has hit the nail on the head with the coulour issue and with a need to simplify (my professor was cut from the same mould). Having said that there seems to be some promise in the right hand column designs.

I'd definitely play with the first and third ones in the second column, the others are a bit simplistic and for some reason they seem horribly familiar to me somehow. I agree with the others on the colours, the alternating colours on the text make the words jump, it's not very pleasing to the eye.

(BTW, On a completely different note (is it the company with the current orange/green website with the bizarre font?) you might want to suggest to them that they make a definite choice between "1st" and "First" (I see you've used both) and stick with it, everywhere. It's their name, and as far as establishing that name and making it findable, it would be handy if they decided on one or the other.)